A $560 million showdown over the future of the Orange County Convention Center is officially on the court calendar, with a newly scheduled trial now looming over one of the county's biggest construction plans. At stake is whether a decades-old land agreement tied to the original property sale could stop work on a massive ballroom and new meeting space. It is the latest round in a familiar local tug-of-war: jobs and tourist tax revenue versus the traffic fixes the county once promised but has yet to fully deliver.
Universal City Property Management III LLC, which is led by Georgia developer Stanley Thomas, alleges Orange County breached a 1998 land-use covenant that barred any expansion beyond Phase V unless Kirkman Road was extended to State Road 528 and a full interchange was built. The complaint says the county agreed to those limits when it bought the land and that the mitigation work never happened. According to ClickOrlando, the plaintiff's lawyer has argued that the county's claim that the road work is "impossible" does not erase a contractual promise.
The case appears in court filings as Universal City Property Management III LLC v. Orange County (Case No. 2025-CA-009549-O) in the Ninth Judicial Circuit, with Byrd Campbell representing the developer. Byrd Campbell's public summary of the complaint notes the company is seeking a permanent injunction to halt Phase 5A, relief that would unwind certain property transfers, and compensatory damages that it says could reach hundreds of millions. The firm's overview also identifies the judge assigned to the matter and lays out the core allegations.
A trial date has now been set in the case, according to Orlando Business Journal, giving both sides a clear deadline to sharpen arguments over whether those 1998 covenants still control current county policy. County attorneys have largely stayed quiet in public while the litigation plays out.
The expansion at the center of the dispute, known as the Grand Concourse project, is a $560 million build that would add roughly 44,000 square feet of meeting space and a 100,000-square-foot ballroom to the North-South building. The project is funded with tourist-development tax revenue, according to the convention center's press materials. Local reporting notes that crews began work on parts of the site in March 2026 even as the legal fight moved ahead, and county officials say construction is expected to continue through the end of the decade.
Legal Stakes And What To Watch
If the court enforces the covenant as written, Orange County could be barred from using the disputed parcel for expansion until Kirkman is extended and the Beachline interchange is completed. That outcome would stall Phase 5A and could force the county to bankroll major roadwork it has long sidestepped. Byrd Campbell's public summary says the plaintiff is pressing for injunctive relief and damages and contends the county originally bought the land below market value in exchange for those infrastructure promises. The judge's schedule in the coming months, along with any rulings on preliminary injunctions, will likely determine whether construction keeps rolling while the case is argued.
Local Ripple Effects
The dispute is unfolding in a tourism corridor where traffic around International Drive already strains nearby roads during big shows. Supporters say the expansion will generate jobs and juice the hotel business, while commuters and nearby workers warn that congestion is getting worse. Local coverage has featured stagehands welcoming the work and commuters describing the daily grind as "bumper-to-bumper." For coverage of those competing views, see ClickOrlando.
For now, all eyes are on the courtroom calendar. The trial date reported by Orlando Business Journal will mark the moment a judge weighs whether a long-ago land covenant can actually block a modern, taxpayer-funded expansion. Both sides, along with hoteliers, workers, and traffic-weary locals, will be watching the docket and upcoming county meetings for the next twist in the saga.
